Advice/Help Roleplaying multiple characters.

[WiccaMistress13]

Hello!
So I've been role-playing for quite a few years now, however up until a year ago I never really roleplayed multiple characters, a few NPCs here and there to progress a plot but never an additional character in a party.

I'm currently comfortable with two but I want to branch out more without neglecting the other characters I'm writing.

I am currently experimenting with role-playing three OCs and I've found that I'm having a hard time using them to their full potential in scenes.
My writing partner is amazing so I'm certain it is a fault on my end but long story short I'd like to know how I can improve and be better.
Advice is heavily appreciated along with your own experiences with such an endeavour!

 

[Crow]

If there's any problem I can think of it's how you end up talking to yourself. End up making a good batch of paragraphs and an entire conversation.

Well, if you're in an RP that strictly demands 7 or more paragraphs, go nuts on that stuff.

 

[Crayons]

Depending on the RP style, I'd probably try to avoid having your characters interact solely with each other for long periods of time, as this can get boring for the other player(s) as well as meaning you end up moving scenes on too much without giving them the chance to participate.

When I've done multiple characters I always do an individual post for each one so as to keep the narrative voice for each character consistent. It helps you separate them as individual characters and not just one main character and two side characters who are just there to support the main (in other words, to differentiate them from NPCs), and also helps to prevent accidental metagaming on your part.

I'd also avoid having too many characters in the same scene. It gets bloated and hard to remember what is going on for each individual all the time. Spread the characters out a bit.

However if you are doing novella style, from what I've seen many people have multiple characters in one post and in one scene and write like it's a piece of fiction containing these characters rather than roleplaying them individually. Maybe a novella RP could advise more on that one.

 

[WiccaMistress13]

Depending on the RP style, I'd probably try to avoid having your characters interact solely with each other for long periods of time, as this can get boring for the other player(s) as well as meaning you end up moving scenes on too much without giving them the chance to participate.

When I've done multiple characters I always do an individual post for each one so as to keep the narrative voice for each character consistent. It helps you separate them as individual characters and not just one main character and two side characters who are just there to support the main (in other words, to differentiate them from NPCs), and also helps to prevent accidental metagaming on your part.

I'd also avoid having too many characters in the same scene. It gets bloated and hard to remember what is going on for each individual all the time. Spread the characters out a bit.

However if you are doing novella style, from what I've seen many people have multiple characters in one post and in one scene and write like it's a piece of fiction containing these characters rather than roleplaying them individually. Maybe a novella RP could advise more on that one.

I used to be Novella but I'm more Advanced Literate these days, this is really good advice, thank you so much!

 

[WiccaMistress13]

If there's any problem I can think of it's how you end up talking to yourself. End up making a good batch of paragraphs and an entire conversation.

Well, if you're in an RP that strictly demands 7 or more paragraphs, go nuts on that stuff.

You're not wrong there, I've had a few posts where my trio end up talking amongst themselves and while a lot of it is thanks to the plot, I don't want it to become a habit, I've made sure to split them up from time to time for them to interact with other people outside of themselves.
I have to take notes on which character knows what to avoid any accidental metagaming.

 

[rae2nerdy]

I personally do alternating points of view. And also try to keep my characters in separate locations as much as possible.

But the alternate points of view don’t necessarily have to be in different posts just hey this is the section from A (-line break) this is the section from B.

If you need an example of how to juggle four characters consistently I recommend Tamora Pierce’s Magic Circle series. As that’s exactly what she does and it works really well.

Mostly by doing what I suggested really well. If your interested in free readings of the books send me a PM and I will send the first one your way.

 

[WiccaMistress13]

I personally do alternating points of view. And also try to keep my characters in separate locations as much as possible.

But the alternate points of view don’t necessarily have to be in different posts just hey this is the section from A (-line break) this is the section from B.

If you need an example of how to juggle four characters consistently I recommend Tamora Pierce’s Magic Circle series. As that’s exactly what she does and it works really well.

Mostly by doing what I suggested really well. If your interested in free readings of the books send me a PM and I will send the first one your way.

I grew up on those books actually! Got to meet her too
I still own the whole collection!

 

[rae2nerdy]

I grew up on those books actually! Got to meet her too
I still own the whole collection!

Yeah I would read Sandry through Briar’s books and see how to do alternating points of view affectively. Tammy is a real pro at it and I find reading professionals helps me picture stuff in my mind for when I write myself.